Cleric
A Cleric is Winged Elf class; the only class that can cast healing spells on themselves and fellow squad members, as well as revive fallen players. They are a valuable and heavily sought-after asset to any squad, especially if the squad is about to enter a dungeon. Clerics in Perfect World are rewarded more than healing classes in other games, generally. They are oftentimes able to contribute to damage dealing as well as healing, for two reasons. One, their damage is substantial, and two, they have powerful Heal-over-Time (HoT) spells that can heal characters even while they are attacking. Their lightning damage spell element is metal, but they have a physical damage spell also. Between physical damage, arcane armor to resist spells, and heals to ameliorate them, they are even more powerful against arcane armor wearers in PvP than their fellow elves, the Archer class. However, the threat they pose, their vulnerability to physical damage, and their healing role mean that they will not be able to concentrate on this tactical advantage against arcane at all times. Like most other spell-casters, the weapons of choice for a Cleric are wands, patakas, magic swords, and glaives. Clerics can fly indefinitely with the natural elven wings, but their attacks are noticeably weaker while in the air. Flying is, however, a good tactic if fighting in a squad with players who are higher level than you, as aggressive enemies will not attack you if you are flying and you can still heal your allies. Cleric Player Guide Cleric is a sound choice for a second character with which to Dual Log. They cannot heal pets, however, so for a Venomancer especially and possibly Mystic, a second account would benefit from one of those characters to help heal the pet with This second character need not necessarily be high level: * Vanguard Spirit, the Armor or Physical defense buff, 10th level is available at level 36, and at 39, access to the hour-long squad version, Greater Protective Aura, is available. Vanguard Spirit * Magic Shell, the magic armor buff, 10th level at 43, and upgrade available at level 46 * Plume Shot 10th level is at level 45. It will not be until after level 89 that an upgaded version is available, as is usual for skills that can be raised with Skill Books * Blessing of the Purehearted 10th level is available at level 45, with a skill book at level 89 * Great Cyclone maxes at level 48, with skill book at 89 also. * Celestial Guardian HP/MP regen at level 50. Exalted Renewal upgrade at 53, but no skill book * Ironheart Blessing 10th level at 51. Skill Book at level 89 * Plume Shell maxes at level 54; skill book at 89 * Spirit's Gift magic attack buff maxes at level 56, with the upgrade Arcane Empowerment at level 59. No skill book. * Thunderball maxes level 61; skill book at 89 * Revive maxes at level 64; skill book at 89 * Elemental Seal maxes at level 64; skill book at 89 * Razor Feathers maxes level 68; skill book at 89 * Purify level 74; skill book at L92 * Siren's Kiss L74; skill book L92 * Dimensional Seal maxes at level 74; skill book at 92 * Wield Thunder L80; book at L99 Player assessment Opinion based in good solid fact: Fact #1: Clerics are always needed, plain and simple. I know Wizards can do a little healing, but in a serious squad, there's got to be at least one person there solely to pick up the dead bodies and prevent death in the first place. As you get higher in level, your demand will be greater. Hang out in a particular area for long enough and you'll hear someone ask for a cleric. Fact #2: Life ain't always easy as a cleric. If you're going to be a healing cleric, expect to feel weak at times. I've spent a lot of my Cleric career feeling frustrated and weak while trying to complete my own quests. Other classes seem to level so much faster because they kill faster and they don't die as often, so they don't lose as much XP. Plus, there's a sort of pressure being a cleric. I've been told that at the high-high levels, clerics can kick some major butt, and I don't doubt that. Fact #3: As with all classes--choices, choices. I've heard, and I've read, that by the time you're 80+, you'll have enough spirit to get all of the skills you desire. That means that all of the pain and suffering you've gone through will be avenged and you'll not only be able to save butts, but kick butt too. Getting to 80 is a long road, though, as with every class, so one must choose wisely along the way to build the character that THEY want to play. I personally learn better through my own experience. I think we've all got skills we've tested out and some turn out great, some we may wish we hadn't acquired, but remember--eventually you'll have every skill you want, so choose your own path along the way--either be told what to do, or test things yourself. Fact #4: All Clerics are NOT created equal. I cannot stress this enough. You can have every perfect healing/buff spell available, but if you're going to be a healing cleric, you're only as good as how attentive you are to your squad. You can have a cleric in your squad that is 20 levels above everyone else, but if they don't pay attention, things can get hairy. And trust me--some people may initially look at levels, but once they see your mad skills of being aware of what's going on, they'll learn soon enough that you can outshine your elder. And by the way, if you are asked to come along on an adventure because you are a cleric--that means you're expected to heal. So if you don't want that job, please let it be known right away. I've been in my fair share of groups where clerics were plenty, but they didn't all want to heal. If you are there for combat--tell your squad. Fact #5: The better you know your teammates, the better you work together. I personally prefer Ronin groups because I've fought along side of you guys more than anyone else I know in-game. This helps in anticipating what skills others use, and their way of playing. For example: We used to have a tanker who liked to rush in to things. I was aware of this, so when squads were about to strike, I knew to keep my eye on the rushing tanker. If someone jumps the gun, things can turn bad fast, but if a flub can be quickly recovered, it saves everyone a little time and possible XP loss. You also get to know and can anticipate who's going to get hit and when. I like feeling that I can anticipate things, and I'd rather be in a Ronin group than with strangers, but it's not a bad idea to venture off and help others out as well. Everyone learns a little bit through experience, plain and simple. Fact #6: Experience only makes you greater. I've been lucky enough to join in on some heavy squads early in my Cleric career simply because I was the only cleric around at the time. In serious situations, people tend to request higher levels, but I'm all for letting someone else slide in as a healer if they'll survive and if they would like to test their limits. I'm currently in the upper 50s, and I still do my fair share of FB19s (we all love FB XP), but a cleric who's above 20 should be sufficient to heal an FB19-type squad. So if you're around when a party is forming and you'd like to have the opportunity, speak up and let it be known. We are a very large guild with a variety of levels--which is great, but don't let high levels hog everything. It's fun to know you'll successfully complete a task, but you know how the saying goes about stuff handed to you on a silver platter...how are you going to learn, if you don't try it out, right? The Squad Now, let's talk about some basics about Clerics with other classes and boss/mobs techniques: The Tank: A tank is a person who's going to be taking the aggro, which means, they are going to be hit the hardest, and the most frequent. Usually a Barbarian is the tanker, and usually is in tiger form when they do this. They have skills to keep aggro on them and allow them to hold it, so that all the damage is concentrated outwardly on them, so the Cleric can manly focus on them for healing. Venomancers: Venomancers will often be asked to do some pulling. Usually a boss is surrounded by it's elite mobs, and if you attack one, they'll all come running after you. And you don't want to rush in on the boss if there's minions around, because not only will the boss be attacking you, but so will all of his friends! Venos send their pets in to start attacking one of the mobs, and then they unsummon their pet. After this occurs, the particular creature the pet was specifically attacking (even though you'll see the whole mob beating up on the pet) will solo come running after the Veno. Since the pet is gone, it goes after the master, if that explains it a little better. Then it's the tank's job to rush in and steal the aggro before the creature makes it to the Veno. When a Veno is pulling like this, it's a good idea to anticipate that the Veno is going to possibly take a hit or two (hopefully no more!) before the tank or someone else can steal the aggro. So what do you do as a cleric? Watch the Veno. When you see the pet successfully at the mob, slap on a Heal Over Time on the Veno. Make sure you're in the back, though, so your heal doesn't pull aggro. When you see the pet disappear, if you haven't already, make sure now you slap a Heal Over Time on the Veno, and get ready to start healing the tank. If there are 2 clerics in the group, have one on the Veno, and one already on the tank. If you're the only cleric, just make sure you are watching your squad list attentively to see who's getting hit. Venos are awesome because their pets take the beating usually, so if that pet dies or is unsummoned, they can go down fast. Non-Tank Damage Dealers: Not all Barbarians have a skill build to hold aggro, so be aware that just because they go tiger form and start tanking, doesn't mean they are going to be the tank the whole fight. Archers are long-range with crazy damage and sometimes are requested to do some pulling if a Veno isn't around, and Wizards are super powerful, so they usually take their turn in getting hit over the course of a long fight. BMs are frequent tankers, too, if a Barb isn't around. AoE Attacks: Usually tough bosses mean AoE fun! AoE stands for Area of Effect--which means when an AoE strikes, it's going to hit everyone in range. Usually that means anyone doing Melee (Barbs and BMs) are definitly going to get hit, along with the primary Cleric, because the Cleric has to be in range to heal the Melee fighters. Ideally when in a long fight with an AoE boss, when there is two clerics who are within range of their party, one cleric can focus on single-person healing, and the other cleric can whip out some squad heals, or both can alternate to anticipate when AoEs will strike. Alternating, because of slower casting time on the party heal. Mob Attacks: Some elite mobs are tied together, and they aren't always pulled. In an intense multiple-enemy fight, make sure that as a Cleric you are in range of your mates, so if you need to throw out a party heal (which has shorter range than your best single-heals), it'll catch everyone, or try to at least. Keep an eye on who's taking the aggro at all times, and keep an eye on pets. If you see a pet suddenly disappear, that could mean that the pet died, which means, as stated above, the creature is going after the master--the Veno. Game Plans: It's always a good idea to get things straight before a fight begins. If there are multiple clerics, see who's got the best buffs, the best single-heals, the best party heal, the highest rez, the highest purify (for shorter cool-down time), and who can take the most damage themselves. With this info, you can easily decide who does what. If someone drops during a fight, a cleric's instict might tell them to immediately rez their fallen party member, but if all clerics start to rez, that means there's a break in heals being thrown out. If at all possible, throw a little communication in squad chat to tell everyone who is doing the rez. Another thing, if there is a case when all the clerics die, let it be known who's going to town and who's going to stay for the come-back rez. By common courtesy rules, it's the Cleric with the highest rez who takes one for the team and comes back to rez the other Cleric(s), but you may witness in some groups if there's a super-higher level cleric, they may try to be stubborn and expect the lower-level cleric to come back, since a higher level loses more XP from death. I'd make sure I'd get that straight before you begin fighting--don't feel pressured to voice your opinion. Fair is fair, and a squad should be a team effort. If one person in the group is selfish, that probably gives you a good idea that that person is more worried about themselves than the whole squad. There's nothing wrong with trying to protect yourself, but if a Cleric is selfish enough to sacrefice everyone else's well-being than their own, they're probably not a good cleric to trust. Links * Venomancer for Luring and Pullng section * Sage or Demon? http://pwi-forum.gdevtalk.net/showthreaddef1.html?t=1724191 "don't listen to people saying support=sage offensive=demon" * http://guidescroll.com/2011/07/perfect-world-demonsage-cleric-skills-list/ Category:Classes Category:Winged Elves